Mining News

Protests Erupt in Greece

Mining is in the news in Greece, as protests have erupted over the new Greek government’s revocation of Eldorado Gold Corp.’s license to develop a gold mine. Thousands of miners were protesting the government’s decision which may cause the miners to lose their jobs.

Eldorado Gold has already spent $400 million on the gold mine project and wants to invest another $700 million by 2017 to build a processing plant and develop two more mines in the area. The mine currently employs about 2,000 people and the proposed investment was expected to lead to another 1,000 jobs by 2020.

This news does not bode well for Greece which saw it's Investment Attractiveness rating fall in the latest edition of the Fraser Institute's Annual Survey of Mining Companies. Greece has never ranked particularly high on the survey, but in 2013 the country did rank 84th (of 112). Fast forward to 2014 and Greece had moved down to 111th (of 122). Greece is being dragged down by regulations and taxation according to survey respondents. Just over 65 percent of respondents said that taxation in Greece was a deterrent to investment and 75 percent of respondents noted that regulatory duplication and inconsistencies, as well as uncertainty from environmental regulations were acting as deterrents to investment.

After years of financial turmoil, Greece may want to think long and hard about its decision to deny foreign investment and its associated jobs, while also perhaps considering reforms to its policies.